Gifted Students Taking Stock Of Market In Class

POMPANO BEACH -- Manhattan may be about a thousand miles away, but Wall Street has come to Northwest 16th Street for the summer.

For the past four weeks, a group of very young, budding stockbrokers has been poring over newspaper stock quotes, tracking the ups and downs of a bull or bear market.

For them, it`s merely a temporary pastime, though. Get them aside and they`ll whisper to you that they really want to be baseball players or airplane pilots instead.

But that`s only natural, because these young stockbrokers are only 8, 9 and 10 years old.

They`re learning about the stock market at Sanders Park Elementary School in a summer class for gifted students whose IQ`s are above 130, the genius level.

``The class gives them a better perspective on current events and history,`` teacher Tony Marcano said. ``They also learn a little about economics. Most of them are used to dealing with nickels and quarters in math problems. But this gives them a real challenge.``

In this class, the children are given an imaginary $10,000 to build their own stock portfolio.

Fearing another Crash of 1929, Marcano stipulated that no one could sell off his or her stocks during the first week if they went down.

When the six-week class ends, the children will sell everything and determine how much they have won or lost on their ventures.

Although some of the children had help from their parents in choosing stocks, others made their decisions independently. And some of the choices made were not the usual blue-chip purchases.

One child wanted to invest in Playboy.

``I just tried to discuss the stock economically rather than socially,`` Marcano joked. ``And I tried to steer him toward a stock that`s a little more stable.``

Austin James, 10, of Deerfield Beach said he invested in Disney because he watches the movies, Kellogg`s because he eats the cereal, Apple because he uses the computers at school, and Hasbro and Coleco because he plays with the toys. He also invested in Chevron because there`s a gas station near his house that seems to do a lot of business.

``My dad is a stockbroker and he helped me pick out the stocks,`` he said. ``So far, I`ve been making and losing money. I don`t think I want to become a real stockbroker, though. There`s too many numbers.``

George Mitchell, 9, of Deerfield Beach has made about $2,000 with his 214 shares of Winn-Dixie, a stock he chose because his mom shops there.

Although he`s excited that he`s made money in the market, George said he doesn`t plan on investing any real money in stocks any time soon.

``When I save up some money, I`d rather put it in the bank,`` he said. ``You might make more money in the stock market, but you might lose it, too.``

The students have learned it`s sometimes best to buy cheaper stocks, that stocks already climbing may not be good buys and that companies who advertise a lot are not necessarily doing well.

The program is working so well, Marcano said, that some parents plan to help their children invest real money in the stock market.

These young stockbrokers have even given Marcano advice on his own stock portfolio.

``They`ve asked me about my purchases,`` he said. ``But you know how it is. Everyone`s a critic once they get some knowledge.``